I hear you Pothole and I guess I also agree and disagree at the same time. I do find the round headlights/front styling on the 997 to look much more '911'ish' than the headlights/front styling on the 996, especially prior to the 2002 revisions. I agree, however, that the clean sides on the 996 do harken back to the early 911's more than subsequent editions. Personally, I preferred the look of the later air-cooled cars but that is, of course, purely a matter of taste. As to the width of the bodies, while both cars have wider bodies than the air-cooled 911's (its why they were able to eliminate the flares from the 993 on the 996), nevertheless the 997 is somewhat wider still.
I still prefer the styling on the 986 to the 996: while the 986 has numerous historical references to the 550 Spyder, it nevertheless was a very original design. The 996, however, borrowed the sheet metal of the 986 (introduced 2 years earlier than the 996) from the B-pillars forward, blending them with a 911 style roofline and rear fenders. It seems that, after Porsche upgraded performance to the 986 in the 2000 model year (2.7 and 3.2 engines, etc.), most customers also preferred the 986 Boxster until the front styling upgrade to the 996 in in the 2002 MY. At all other times, the sales of the au courant 911 has exceeded, often substantially, the sales of the Boxster, or the Boxster/Cayman combined:
The following sales figures are from:
www.autozine.org/Manufacturer/Germany/Porsche/html
1998/1999 (1999 MY) 911 - 23, 090 Boxster - 20, 892
1999/2000 (2000 MY) 911 - 23, 050 Boxster - 25,747
2000/2001 (2001 MY) 911 - 26, 721 Boxster - 27,865
2001/2002 (2002 MY) 911 - 32, 337 Boxster - 21, 897
2002/2003 (2003 MY) 911 - 27, 789 Boxster - 18, 411
2003/2004 (2004 MY) 911 - 23,704 Boxster - 12, 988
2004/2005 (2005 MY) 911 - 27,826 Boxster - 18. 009
2005/2006 (2006 MY) 911 - 34,386 Boxster/Cayman - 27,906
2006/2007 (2007 MY) 911 - 37,415 Boxster/Cayman - 26,146
2007/2008 (2008 MY) 911 - 31,423 Boxster/Cayman - 21,747
2008/2009 (2009 MY) 911 - 27,776 Boxster/Cayman - 14,403
2009/2010 (2010 MY) 911 - 19,663 Boxster/Cayman - 11,717
The 911 has always had a performance edge over the Boxster, although that was reduced substantially in the 2000 model year with the introdution of the 3.2 'S' and 2.7 Base. Since then the performance edge for the 911 has remained roughly constant. What is the reason, then, that sales of the Boxster exceeded the 911 only in those two years? I suggest that it was the appearance of the 996until the 2002 front-end upgrade. Thereafter, and especially after the introduction of the 997, there has been no contest: the 997 outsold the 987 and Cayman by a substantial margin.
I understand that sales numbers/demand when new do not necessarily reflect demand for cars as they become older, but this is another of the reasons that I believe that the 986 Boxster S and Boxster from the 2000 and 2001 MY (especially those with dual-row IMS bearings) will ultimately become the most sought after. They were the only Boxsters that were more popular and sought after in their time than the comparable 911.
Brad